Communicating model outputs

Published: 06 September 2017

My name is Hayley Bannister and I am a postgraduate student at the University of Sheffield under the supervision of MERP's Dr. Tom Webb, Prof. Paul Blackwell, Dr. Julia Blanchard and Dr. Kieran Hyder.

In my PhD I am interested in how we can use computer models to better understand how our environment is likely to change in the future. However, predicting the future is complicated and various types of models can make very different predictions. In the past, a lack of effective communication of such variable model outputs, both to decision-makers and the general public, has been blamed for ineffective management decisions. This in turn has led to an increasing distrust of scientific evidence amongst the public, particularly in regards to climate science. To combat this issue, I have designed a survey aimed at identifying the most effective methods for visually communicating climate model outputs and their associated uncertainties.

I am looking for volunteers with different levels of expertise to complete the survey. Results will be used to generate guidelines for communicating model outputs that may be used across multiple different areas of research, including marine ecosystem modelling. Overall, we hope this research will enable us to target audiences with visualisations that will both capture their interest and prevent misinterpretations of the data, as well as help to increase the societal impact of the models and ensure the outputs are well-placed to support management decisions.

The survey is designed so that you may decide how many questions you would like to answer based on the amount of time you have available to complete the survey. It will take approximately 10 minutes to complete the compulsory sections of the survey and 5-10 minutes to complete each of the four optional sections, all of which you may complete in more than one session.

If you would like to participate or would like more information about this research, please contact me at hjbannister1@sheffield.ac.uk and I can provide the Participant Information Sheet.